Protecting What We Have: A Tale Of Friendship

Good/Bad news

Hoon would never be able to shake off the image of his dongsaeng's bloodied and battered body hooked unconscious in the dorm's basement. The image would definitely haunt his dreams for years to come. Somehow, he dreaded entering the hospital room even more, which is why he didn't argue when Chin and Daeshim went to see him first when Dae was first moved to a normal room, and every day in the following week. He felt that going in and taking in Daehyun's current appearance would make it all too...real. It would be a very strong reminder of how he failed as a leader. He was grateful to his hyungs for understanding.

He actually was still hoping it was all just a nightmare, a bad joke his exhausted mind was conjuring, that maybe he'll wake up to the giggles of none other than Dae himself and would forget everything just by looking at his innocent grinning face.

Unfortunately, it was not the case and eventually, he found himself stepping into the cold room yet again a week later. The sterilizer's smell hit his nostrils and the sight his eyes witnessed made him go stone still just like the first time.

Daehyun had a huge tube in his mouth, probably to help him breathe; what with the broken ribs and hurt lungs the doctor spoke of. The back of his head, his forehead, chest, his arms, hands and both his shoulders were heavily bandaged. He had scratches and cuts on his face. Hoon supposed that if they were also bandaged the young man would look like a mummy from head to toe. His cheekbones were prominent, the thin cover over his waist hid what Hoon hoped was no longer "serious" burns and bruises scattered all over the rest of his body.

His left leg was resting on a pillow with a long cast from under his knee to over his ankle. Hoon seriously felt miserable just seeing Dae in that state and the thought of how painful all those injuries must be...made him sick to the bones.

As if feeling the same way, Daeshim gritted his teeth and all but sank into the newly acquired second chair, 'I am imagining about a thousand ways to break every bone they have in the most painful way possible, whoever they are!' He groaned

'Any other day, I would say I'm against violence, but this time, I am so gonna take part in that, hyung!' Hoon agreed, a dark glint in his eyes lingering for a few seconds before being replaced by one of endearment directed at Daehyun while he sat on his other side.

'Hey, Champ! We're missing you awfully here. Turns out Hajooni was right, you know? You're definitely the one who keeps the conversations going, and here I thought I am the mood maker.' He feigned disappointment.

It hurt not hearing the boy laughing at his grimaces and comments but Hoon kept going. It was the best way for him to cope right now and keep his mind off negative thoughts.

Suddenly, the fine long fingers intertwined with his twitched, and Hoon all but screamed, 'Dae? DAE! HYUNG HE'S WAKING UP!'

At that, Daeshim quickly pressed the button next to Daehyun's bed to summon the doctor and returned his attention to the boy in question; seeing how he clenched and unclenched his free hand in the sheets underneath him. His big eyes slowly fluttered revealing a hazy and confused gaze for the first time in days.

Daehyun made a very small groaning noise and a grimace proving that he was in pain. He then looked around in an agonisingly slow motion. The moment his eyes met Hoon's, his lips were moving around the tube forming what looked like a very slurred, 'Hooni-hyung...' Although Daeshim wouldn't swear to it under oath.

And that was when everything spiralled out of control.

Upon realizing that he had an alien object down his throat, Daehyun panicked, he started coughing and choking, tears pouring out of his horrified eyes like a waterfall. The leader started soothing him in a calm voice, 'Shhhh... It's okay Dae...it's just a tube. It's helping your lungs... Here follow me...' Hoon took a deep breath in, 'Draw air from your nose yeah?' Watching Daehyun copying him he relaxed, 'That's right, calm down, it's okay, slowly...yeah...that's it, you're doing great!'

It seemed Daehyun realised he could breathe, but even he was taken by surprise when his whole body started convulsing, his eyes rolling back, his limbs vibrating and thrusting violently. The monitors around them were going crazy, and the doctor and nurses rushed in saying that he's having a seizure and ushering the two rappers out.

Hoon looked so pale, his eyes unable to fixate on a single direction, even Daeshim's panic was obvious, both failing at hiding their fear for the maknae's sake.

'What happened, hyung?'

'I don't know, Hajooni, he woke up...but then he panicked. And then he...he looked like he's cramping or something... The doctor said it's a seizure?' Daeshim answered uncertainly.

'Hey, calm down you two! It must have been due to his head injury,' reasoned Chin. 'The doctor will explain later, yeah? Freaking out won't help anyone.'

'Y-yeah, yes, ok.' Hoon nodded determinedly and took a breath running his fingers through his hair, 'I think... I think he recognized me though. He knew who I was, he even tried calling me, right Daeshim hyung?' he asked, a mix of hope and sadness painted over his features.

'Yeah, sounded like a Hooni-hyung to me, too,' answered the older rapper clearly making a lot of effort to calm his nerves.

Chin understood that seeing someone having a seizure in front of you for the first time can be...traumatizing which was why he kept reassuring his dongsaengs that their Dae is going to be okay, repeating it over and over like a mantra.

***

The doctor came after what seemed like forever, 'We think he has P.T.E, short for Post Traumatic Epilepsy. It is not a definitive diagnosis yet, we need to run a few tests, but that's the most probable one. That's probably what's causing his seizures. Since he's not responding to the drugs, he'll most likely have trouble sleeping for a while, it might also be due to the head injury... Once we run the tests, we'll have more information for you. Daehyun-ssi managed to stay conscious for a while after the seizure. He seems to be aware enough to understand my questions, he also recognized all of you, but it seems his recollection of the...incident isn't clear yet. I think we can safely assume that the worst-case scenario is off the table.'

Everyone let out a sigh of relief at that, but Hoon remembered the seizure he had just witnessed and all the gossip he had heard about an epileptic neighbour when he was a child, and those articles he came across when he researched it and couldn't help but ask, 'But if he really has epilepsy...does that mean he'll always have those seizures? Will he be able to live normally?'

'Of course. Many people live normally even with P.T.E. For the time being though, we aren't able to give him any treatment until his wounds heal a little more, so you must be extra cautious about triggers, make sure he isn't experiencing high emotions or facing stressful situations in order to avoid the aforementioned seizures, but afterwards, when we get him started on medication he'll be able to go back to his normal activities and seizures will be reduced to one occurrence every few years. That is if the tests confirm it's a P.T.E of course.'

Hoon exhaled audibly, Daehyun will be okay, hethought and this time, it felt more than just a prayer.